The present invention relates to a cell cultivating apparatus and, more particularly, to a high density cultivating system adapted to cultivate adhesive cells utilizing a cultivating apparatus containing therein a bundle of hollow threads in order that a high survivability of the cells may be maintained for a long period.
The cultivating system utilizing a cell cultivating vessel containing a bundle of hollow threads has already been disclosed, for example, by Japanese Patent Publication No. 1979-6634.
According to such prior art, the pump of a type selected from various types such as a bellows pump, a geared pump and a tubing pump is used to supply the cell cultivating vessel with culture medium from the culture medium tank, also referred to as a water tank, and there are provided in the main ducts at intermediate points along the length of these main ducts various sensors to control operation of the gas mixer and thereby to regulate quantities of respective gases mixed by said mixer.
However, such cultivating system of well known art has conventionally encountered a serious problem that the solids produced by the cells during cultivation adhere to outer surfaces of the individual hollow threads, resulting in progressive deficiency of nutriments as well as oxygen supplied to the cells. With a consequence, the number of dead cells increases with a result of excessively increasing said solid products of the cells and thus the cells perish with increasing speed.
As additional problems which have conventionally encountered by the prior art, free or floating solids are circulated in the system and often trapped by the components such as the gas mixer and the sensors, obstructing a smooth circulation and making a control of these components difficult.